Can we learn anything from California?
Monday, May 22, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Fritz Kaegi writes in Crain’s about how Illinois could learn from California, particularly since Gov. Rauner often invokes Silicon Valley as a model for jump-starting this state…
• Healthy universities are crucial. Stanford University Dean Fred Terman is acknowledged as the father of Silicon Valley. He brought in research funds, gathered leading academic talent, and encouraged professors to engage in business. In Illinois, the last two years of unreliable state university funding have driven out professors and applicants. High school counselors advise Illinoisans look elsewhere, driving record application levels in neighboring states. Smaller state universities face a negative spiral of lower applications, higher tuition, and credit downgrades.
• Noncompete clauses in employment contracts hurt talent acquisition and retention. In California, firms cannot limit employees’ freedom to work at competitors, giving it a leg up on the states that enforce noncompetition agreements. In Illinois, workers can be forced to the sidelines for years before they can compete with their former employers, reducing mobility and entrepreneurship. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg would have never been able to immediately hire Sheryl Sandberg and her team from Google in 2008 if they were based in Illinois. Illinois should extend the path-breaking Illinois Freedom to Work Act sponsored by Senators Patricia Van Pelt and Jacqueline Collins, which banned noncompetes for low-wage workers, to all Illinoisans.
• Business needs to embrace the new. In California, defying large corporations is part of the entrepreneurial ethic. We need more of that here. Too many are wary of stepping on the toes of grandees, whose deference has not been earned. All but two of the top 50 publicly traded Illinois companies, as measured by market capitalization, were founded more than 25 years ago (well done, salvage part vendor LKQ and trailer park operator Equity LifeStyle!). Only 13 of the 100 members of the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club are founders of their respective companies, and 11 of these are financial companies. Meanwhile, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Salesforce and Tesla—all less than 20 years old—are now worth more than all Illinois public companies combined. Instead of getting policy ideas from executives who climbed the corporate ladder at companies created by others long ago, maybe we should listen to different people?
California has plenty of problems and we have many homegrown strengths. But we can learn from the example of its governor, Brown, who never badmouthed his own state even when fiscal times were tough and led his state to fiscal stability and entrepreneurial growth.
* Not only does Gov. Rauner often badmouth his own state, he at times seems to be cheerleading the exit from Illinois…
Not mentioned, of course, is that Indiana also has local income taxes.
…Adding… From comments…
Not mentioned, of course, is that Bruce Rauner supports taxing those home repairs.
Not mentioned, of course, is that Bruce Rauner’s cuts to higher education mean it will cost you more to attend college in Illinois.
Not mentioned, of course, is that you might use the $2,500 to pay off debt, but the state’s debt is more than $130 billion and climbing faster under Bruce Rauner.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:14 am:
Not mentioned, of course, is that Bruce Rauner supports taxing those home repairs.
Not mentioned, of course, is that Bruce Rauner’s cuts to higher education mean it will cost you more to attend college in Illinois.
Not mentioned, of course, is that you might use the $2,500 to pay off debt, but the state’s debt is more than $130 billion and climbing faster under Bruce Rauner.
#funwithgraphics
- Anon221 - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:21 am:
Well, for one thing, vote in a Governor (Brown) who knows how to govern…
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/dec/27/schwarzenegger-exits-office-with-deficit-as-high-a/
- Amalia - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:27 am:
False equivalent. U. of I is not Stanford.
- Anyone Remember - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:28 am:
Not only does Missouri also have local income taxes, they have local “personal property taxes” on vehicles.
http://www.kmov.com/story/31824563/new-effort-to-crack-down-on-plate-cheats-registering-cars-in-illinois-to-avoid-taxes
- Grandson of Man - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:29 am:
I read this a few days ago. I didn’t know California froze property taxes and has relied more on taxes from the highest incomes.
We have a major structural revenue problem in Illinois. We need to have progressive taxation and shift the tax burden more onto higher incomes. This is the kind of reform we need. This should be a major long-term goal.
California is doing well economically and proves we don’t have to follow the union-busting Midwest and other red state models. If Rauner had a GOP GA, he’d have decimated union protections.
- Out Here In The Middle - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:32 am:
Sorry. You lost me at “Can we learn . . .”
- MacombMike - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:37 am:
>
Can’t speak for all of Illinois, but Cook County has this too.
- MacombMike - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:37 am:
My bad on formatting. Was originally quoting Anyone Remember
- Anonymous - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:42 am:
from the Crain’s article, other things we could learn:
- Gov. Jerry Brown used higher progressive income taxes at the top end to make up the shortfall. Proposition 30 took California’s top income tax rate from 10 percent to 13.3 percent.
- California has much higher workers comp costs: $2 per $100 of covered wages in 2014, compared to our $1.31
- A Jack - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:50 am:
U of I might not be Stanford. But if not for U of I there would be no Internet as we know it. U of I invented the browser as well as e-mail. At one time U of I had one of the powerful super computers in the world.
We had the talent here, but we let it slip away. And it appears that Rauner is will to let that trend continue and even accelerate that trend.
- Nick Name - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:55 am:
Not mentioned is that every state around us has higher income taxes and that every state around us — except Indiana, which also has county-level income taxes — has a progressive income tax.
Yes, even Scott Walker’s Wisconsin.
- illini - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 10:58 am:
— False equivalent. U. of I is not Stanford. —
OK, Stanford is a private, not a flagship, State University. Yet, UIUC is ranked higher in some disciplines than Stanford.
Your point? Maybe I am just dense this morning.
- Crispy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:06 am:
No, @Amalia, that’s sort of an apples-to-oranges comparison in some ways (and not necessarily in Stanford’s favor), as Illini points out. However, here’s another thing to think about: according to recent studies, the U of I system generates nearly $14 billion annually for the state, and the supercomputer is expected to generate ca. $1 billion. Hmmm–wonder what cash-strapped Midwestern state could use that kind of money? …
What a sadly too-frequent Illinoisan response, though–to downplay and denigrate what treasures we have remaining.
- FSR - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:08 am:
Not mentioned (by this blog), of course, is that Indiana’s local income taxes average around 1.5%… so you’d have to be pretty wealthy and own a pretty modest home for the implied trade off to work in Illinois’ favor. And of course we can’t forget the (albeit slightly) lower state income tax rate over there.
Strange that people feel the need to argue against the fact that property taxes are a problem in IL.
- Dan Johnson - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:17 am:
The non-compete clause ban is a great idea. Hard to think of another policy that costs taxpayers nothing and unlocks entrepreneurial activity.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:18 am:
===But if not for U of I there would be no Internet as we know it. U of I invented the browser as well as e-mail.===
Cite please. Thanks.
- Dublin - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:18 am:
FSR
Average compensation in IL is $7K higher than IN - and outside of Chicago - cost of living is nearly identical.
So…go to IN - pay $4000 less in property tax and make $7K less.
But, hey, there’s no unions and you can discriminate against LGBTQ!!
- anon2 - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:18 am:
Brown faced a severe financial crisis almost as bad as Illinois. He went to voters with a plan to cut spending and raise taxes. Voters approved, and the plan worked. California’s graduated income tax makes it work.
- Ahoy! - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:18 am:
Illinois should look at California’s top 2 primary model which if done right in Illinois could help moderates and independents with ballot access. A far better way to handle primaries than our current system that protects incumbents and our parties. Our political process is broken in this state and that is affecting our government.
Also, what this state had done to our higher education institutions is reckless and it has not just been Rauner, middle-class families have long had to send their kids out of state for cheaper college options.
Yes, we can learn a lot from California, I would gladly rather have their governor and whoever their speaker of the house is because I know who it is not.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:21 am:
Some may call this a ‘conspiracy theory’, but what if there was/is a secret pact between all surrounding states that would $ee to it that Rauner was elected to Gov. of Illinois. Initially they were going to pay him million$ to speed up Illinois decline thru sinister efforts. But after listening to him for awhile, they realized pay wasn’t necessary - just let Bruce be Bruce.
- d.p.gumby - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:25 am:
Basically, a competent governor makes a difference and a blowhard governor is just a blowhard.
- illini - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:33 am:
@Willy, my friend - I can not cite the exact info at this time but I can relate a few things.
Fifty years ago when I first enrolled, UIUC had already developed the ILLIAC computer ( the largest and most powerful computer at that time ) and also developed the PLATO computerized teaching aid ( had to take 2 labs on the system and had a love/hate relationship with the program ).
And we all remember HAL from 2001-A Space Odyssey.
There were breakthroughs with the internet as well but I will let others cite the specifics for now.
- Colby jack - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:33 am:
Not sure we should be following the lead of another state that’s in the top 5 for outmigration.
- RNUG - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:38 am:
== Cite please. Thanks. ==
-OW-, UIUC / Marc Andreessen was responsible for the first graphical browser: Mosiac that evolved to Netscape / Firefox that the modern internet is based on. That includes the concept of a Domain Name Server. Otherwise, we’d still be typing in numeric IP addresses.
- drew - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:38 am:
U of I didn’t invent the www or the browser (that would be Tim Berners-Lee), but NCSA Mosaic really popularized the web.
Of course the author of the software left Illinois for California to start Netscape.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)
- Anon221 - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:39 am:
From the Time article: “O.K., maybe we’re really talking about Web browsers rather than the Web. I mean, Netscape was one of the most iconic start-ups of all time, right?
Well, sure, but it commercialized the ideas that Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina came up with in Mosaic, the first graphical browser. That was created when Andreessen was a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign — a public institution, last time I checked — and worked with Bina at its National Center for Supercomputing Applications, a joint venture of the school, the state of Illinois and the federal government.”
http://techland.time.com/2012/07/25/how-government-did-and-didnt-invent-the-internet/
- Anonymous - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:39 am:
==False equivalent. U. of I is not Stanford.==
And apples are not oranges… but Research One universities are Research One universities.
Urbana has the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) & a top five College of Engineering… I wouldn’t disparage that.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:40 am:
- illini -
My point is a simple one…
Making UIUC the “Al Gore” of inventing the Internet and/or email, or whatever creative premise wants to make that UIUC is the sole founding place for the intertubes…
… it might be better to just be a “leader among leaders” and recognizing that many can lay claim to the Internet, just not one, like an Al Gore, when there are so many incredible things UIUC can easily claim and is already recognized for in many disciplines.
Then again, the U of I system is probably approaching, if it hasn’t crossed $1 billion less in funding since Bruce Rauner became governor.
With great respect as always.
- Anonymous - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:40 am:
Willy, Telnet and Mosiac were both developed at UIUC. Of course, many people are either too old or too young to know what either of these things were but some of us used them every day for a few years.
- James Knell - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:41 am:
Opps… @ 11:39 am is mine. Sorry.
- Matt Belcher - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:41 am:
=======But if not for U of I there would be no Internet as we know it. U of I invented the browser as well as e-mail.===
Cite please. Thanks. ====
“The university hosts the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), which created Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, the foundation upon which Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer are based, the Apache HTTP server, and NCSA Telnet. The Parallel@Illinois program hosts several programs in parallel computing, including the Universal Parallel Computing Research Center. The university contracted with Cray to build the National Science Foundation-funded supercomputer Blue Waters[83][84][85] The system also boasts the largest public online storage system in the world with more than 25 petabytes of usable space.[86] The university celebrated January 12, 1997 as the “birthday” of HAL 9000, the fictional supercomputer from the novel and film 2001: A Space Odyssey; in both works, HAL credits “Urbana, Illinois” as his place of operational origin.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Illinois_at_Urbana%E2%80%93Champaign#National_Center_for_Supercomputing_Applications
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:46 am:
Great stuff… Thanks!
- DuPage Saint - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:47 am:
U of I had George Halas and Hugh Hefner. Nough said
- RNUG - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:53 am:
Also, -OW-, my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think UIUC was either the 3rd or 4th university connected to ARPAnet (as it was known in the early days).
- illini - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:55 am:
Many thanks to all those who picked up the appropriate cites that I could not quickly find.
Yet this is the most appropriate to take from this discussion — “Then again, the U of I system is probably approaching, if it hasn’t crossed $1 billion less in funding since Bruce Rauner became governor.”
Thanks, Willy for reminding us once again.
- RNUG - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 11:57 am:
And a lot of the early graphical and internet stuff also came out of PARC, Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center. They often don’t get the credit they deserve for things like resizable fonts, multiple windows, the mouse, and portions of Ethernet.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:00 pm:
===…my memory is a little fuzzy, but I think UIUC was either the 3rd or 4th university connected to ARPAnet (as it was known in the early days).===
Yep… NSFNET T3 Network(?) followed in the early… 1990s(?)
- lake county democrat - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:02 pm:
Seriously, you think businesses are going to rush to locate in Illinois if we -eliminate- noncompete clauses? I hate them too, but California turned around it’s Illinois-like nightmare by raising taxes on the megawealthy and relying on Cali’s unique charms to keep them from leaving. (And Silicon Valley companies are protected by other “non-compete” things, like agreements not to disclose trade secrets).
The lack of interest in progressive taxation is stunning. Instead we look to burden the middle class just to tread water over our crickety state - if you want to build universities and infrastructure not just patch-them up, you need progressive taxation. Everything else puts the cart ahead of the horse.
(An aside; UIUC is fine, but Illinois would do better with a clear, improved “runner-up” across most disciplines, a la Michigan/Michigan St)
- Skeptic - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:05 pm:
And don’t forget the transistor and the LED.
- 39th Ward - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:09 pm:
Governor Brown led the way to a very drastic reform of the CA workers compensation system, which took effect in 2013. It has resulted in a 7% decrease in WC annual costs. http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2016/11/30/433569.htm
- How Ironic - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:10 pm:
Now that I actually live in CA, I have to say that the taxation issue isn’t as big a problem as I had thought it would be.
And the fact that my home (although literally 2x as expensive and 1/2 the size of my Springfield home) is about 1/3 of the property tax that I was paying in Illinois. And it will not go up, as long as I don’t sell/move to another home. 1% of the value of the home when I purchased it. And my home has already appreciated nearly 20% since purchase.
Rauner is ruining IL. But, to be honest I think that is his long term plan.
- Bigtwich - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:10 pm:
At least Illinois students are popular with other states. Beginning Fall 2017, ALL undergraduate students attending UMS (University of Missouri, St. Louis) who are Illinois residents from any Illinois county, will pay the in-state tuition rate at UMSL.
- California Guy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:20 pm:
Again, I just don’t think Illinois can get away with the regulatory/cost of business structure that California does. What California businesses pay in regulatory/cost of business is mitigated by access to a huge talent pool (universities and highly educated foreign workers) and sheer volume (population). Not to mention California has some of the best weather you can find. LOL at “winter.”
I remember walking through failing shopping malls throughout Chicago suburbs. Not the case in California - you’re lucky to even get a parking spot at some of them on the weekends. It’s just the volume of people.
Illinois should definitely work to adopt the California disruptive industry model. Embrace AirBNB, ride sharing, driverless cars and trucks, direct sale automobiles, etc. States that work at protecting old industries from change rather than embrace the future are setting themselves up for failure.
- Amalia - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:43 pm:
Poor Illini. the better comparison would be U. of C. and Northwestern. Atomic breakthrough? Econ theorists? Lyrica? Nano tech Nobel? Look north.
- illini - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 12:48 pm:
Back to the original post — “ Healthy universities are crucial.”
Two weeks ago my local weekly, downstate and very rural paper shared this info about the current HS Seniors -
29 of the graduating class received over $1 million in scholarship offers and where are they going -
1 to the UIUC and 1 to ISU, 3 to SIUE and 1 to SIUC - All the rest are going out of state.
And where are the others going - flagship universities in Kentucky, North Carolina, Indiana and Tennessee as well as some private universities out of state.
Great way to grow our State!
- Amalia - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 1:04 pm:
over on another thread, the discussion is why many med school grads do not take residencies in Illinois. Trouble is, they do at hight rates, if the University they go to for Med School is private…Loyola, Northwestern especially. (Crain’s article with stats.) The question is, why do Public University Med school grads leave in higher rates? Are they not great at what they do and Illinois….Chicago high quality hospitals….don’t want to take them? are they out of state or foreign students who head back home? both of these questions have problematic roots. UIUC is infamous for taking more and more students from other countries. And their med school has multiple campuses, not all of which are of similar quality. the issue with public universities in Illinois is not just funding, it is admissions and quality. everyone do better, not just Rauner.
- VanillaMan - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 1:07 pm:
No one comes to Illinois for the weather, the beaches, the mountains, Palm Springs, Golden Gate, Yosemite, Catalina, the redwoods, Mt. Shasta, the Pacific, gold and precious metals, or the direct connection to Asia. California is heavenly and residents there created their life based upon the natural bounty found there.
We don’t have that. We have location and the world’s best soil.
We used to own the Loop, Chicago banks, Chicago corporations and those Chicago-owned resources decided what was best. Not anymore. We’re a big-dog regionally and are an also-ran globally. Only 3 cities have lost a million residents, and Chicago is one of them.
People live here to make money. You take that away and they’ll leave. Bloviating about the public universities comes from those institution’s alumni, breaking their arms patting themselves on the back for not leaving Illinois to attend school elsewhere. Mom’s weekend laundry service caused more to attend Illinois universities than most care to admit.
Illinois has to find solutions for Illinois. It’s no California.
- Michelle Flaherty - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 1:07 pm:
I found the Stanford guy post interesting and then I get to the comments and it’s all the U of I inferiority complex apologists.
Sheesh. When did everyone in the world turn into Chapin Rose?
Usually you have to write about SIUC to get that kind of random “we matter too” self puffery.
The HAL 9000. Really?
Nevermind the message of: your tax fears aren’t as great as you think they are and you have to have a longterm vision for your state.
Now Rauner’ longterm vision has Illinois as the right to work Mississippi of the Midwest rather than the intellectual silicon prairie, but I don’t think that’s the crowd Dean Fred was trying to reach.
- Arthur Andersen - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 1:36 pm:
OW, my dear friend and essteemed colleague, rest assured that no one in the UIUC Family wants to rest on our our laurels or in particularly, ever be thought of in any respect at the same time as Al Gore.
Before the Andressen crew had reached fortune, but were becoming national figures on the Internet scene, they were still happy to pull cable at night for eight bucks an hour[
(Note at that point in time, this was not thought of as breaking any bargaining agreemeets) my late father’s office building was one of their last jobs.
The private supercomputer that operates in tandem with Blue Waters also teaches math (Wolgram Mathematica) and is the AI front end for “can’t live without her’ Siri.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 1:58 pm:
- AA -,
My dear friend and someone who keeps me honest to thought and argument…
You understand why I just wanted a cite and a “clearer” picture of what we’re really talking about, while flippantly saying one thing, when deeds and history frame accomplishments as they are, because of a healthy university.
I’m puzzled, confused, perplexed, even frustrated as many tout the accomplishments of any and all our state universities, defending their honor with facts and history that speak for themselves, but while trying to beat down the words of President Killeen states, without reservation that the U if I system is burning, hurting, and at one point $750 million less in funding.
“But we’re a top ten university!”
Where are Illinois High School seniors going?
“We are leaders!”
… closing in on possibly a billion dollars less in funding.
So, why its indisputable the quality of Illinois’ universities, they all need to be healthy.
Al Gore might agree too…
- BuckinIrish - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 2:08 pm:
==”We’re a big-dog regionally and are an also-ran globally. Only 3 cities have lost a million residents, and Chicago is one of them.”==
https://www.atkearney.com/documents/10192/8178456/Global+Cities+2016.pdf/8139cd44-c760-4a93-ad7d-11c5d347451a
This kind of tells a different story. The Global Cities Index has us ranked 7th ahead of Beijing, DC, and Seoul. It also has us ranked 11th in terms of future outlook. Chicago won’t turn from a great city to a bad one overnight (unless we sink our school system).
- California Guy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 3:01 pm:
@ BuckinIrish
Chicago is certainly a great international City. In fact, it’s probably the best thing Illinois has going for it. The problem is that it’s trajectory is bleak. The State government is in perpetual crisis - democrats don’t want to cut, republicans don’t want to increase revenue, so nothing happens and the situation gets worse. CPS finds itself in a similar situation. Violence continues to plague the City. The population is shrinking. On top of that, some of the largest employers in the City are the very government institutions that are in crisis (CPS, State of IL).
Hard to sell a company, investor, or potential resident on the future of Chicago. They have so many other options with a healthier outlook.
- 47th Ward - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 3:07 pm:
===In fact, it’s probably the best thing Illinois has going for it.===
Probably?
- My New Handle - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 3:55 pm:
Illinois is headed in exactly the direction Rauner wants it to head. There is money to be made in higher interest rates, private schools, private nursing care facilities, etc. Arguing about California, or any other state, is just a distraction, as is all grand bargain palaver and anything else related to traditional concepts of governance. The Repubs could turn this around of course, but self-interest over public service informs their identity. It is happening at the state level and the national. None of this will end well for anyone.
- illini - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 3:56 pm:
@Willy and @AA - we all understand the conundrum and the problem we are trying desperately to address with our members of the GA.
And this is about more than UIUC - I was reading over the weekend that for every $1 spent in Higher Ed that the return was something like $27 to the states economy. For a “smart businessman” that we have for a Governor this investment ( and at at even greater level ) should be a no-brainer. But then again this is BVR.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 4:02 pm:
===I was reading over the weekend that for every $1 spent in Higher Ed that the return was something like $27 to the states economy. For a “smart businessman” that we have for a Governor this investment ( and at at even greater level ) should be a no-brainer. But then again this is BVR.===
- illini -
… unless Rauner’s sole goal is to see what schools survive, what schools Rauner wants closed, or even more crazy, hold hostage schools with zero intention to close, but every intention to leverage and hurt, (which is fine by Rauner) but try to seem like a hero after all the damage that can be done… is done.
For me?
I’m just tired of the embarrassingly disingenuous quotes by Raunerites, and say that by looking at how they vote, in fear of Rauner’s money more than district backlash.
Mr. Schimpf is doing just that, until he can actually show me otherwise.
- Cheryl44 - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 4:22 pm:
If I lived in Indiana I’d probably have to spend more than that on car ownership. I doubt I spend $2000 a year on transit/carshare.
- Ron - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 4:45 pm:
Chicago is what makes Illinois. Without it, the state would be like West Virginia. Very poor and economically backward.
Illinois being compared to CA is just plain dumb. As others have noted. My family would leave in a second with the income tax rates they have in CA. I may as well live in CA then.
Controlling state government spending and headcount are the way to save Illinois.
- VanillaMan - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 5:06 pm:
I agree that Chicago makes Illinois, pays for itself, and then some, and is irreplaceable.
Yet, at what cost to the rest of the state? Once you leave Chicagoland, you really enter another culture, more similar to Indiana, than Chicago.
Is that so wrong? There are many Chicago-views forced upon good people who’ve nothing in common with it. It doesn’t matter how far your world is from Cook county, Chicago rules. There are polar opposites between Elizabethtown and Lake Bluff, and both views should be equally respected.
If non-Chicago is willing to break away from Chicago economically, we shouldn’t denegrate that decision. Doing so would harm Illinois, but at what cost should the 95 counties permit complete political dominance by the other 6?
There needs to be some uniting within Illinois.
- Ron - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 5:12 pm:
People vote, not counties.
- Amalia - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 5:25 pm:
@Ron….right! but try telling that to Trump!
- peon - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 5:31 pm:
Lesson from California: having a progressive income tax is not fatal to job creation.
- Chicago 20 - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 5:33 pm:
The only thing Rauner learned from California is what the Koch brothers fed him in Palm Springs.
Trickle down economics, union bashing, voter suppression, civil division, regressive taxes, elimination of public services and safety nets is all Rauner learned in California.
The rest just doesn’t interest him, he doesn’t see a benefit.
- Ron - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 5:50 pm:
Trump will not finish his term, so we have that going for us Amalia.
Peon, the atrocious Illinois Constitution doesn’t allow progressive income taxes. But we guarantee public employee pensions regardless of life expectancy, market returns, inflation, benefits not even earned etc. So we have that….
- City Zen - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 6:40 pm:
==Lesson from California: having a progressive income tax is not fatal to job creation.==
Lesson #2 from California: taxing retirement income. is not fatal to job creation.
- Colby jack - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 8:24 pm:
## Without it, the state would be like West Virginia. Very poor and economically backward. ##
Many low population states do just fine, and many have a budget surplus. Downstate may not have the benefits of a large city, but nor do we have the problems.
- east central - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 9:30 pm:
Rich, OW and others: One might say that Stanford is no University of Illinois.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering.
Check out research.illinois.edu
UIUC National Science Foundation Awards: More than any other university in the nation, six years running!
Please, please, realize what a jewel you have in the corn and bean fields of central Illinois.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 9:36 pm:
… and yet, - east central -, nary a “boo” from Raunerite legislators that have state universities holding Rauner accountable publicly for refusing to fund higher education… that includes the possible $1 billion dollars (by now) that the U of I system has lost since Gov. Rauner has had the budgetary responsibility as governor.
Cheering how “great” things are… that’s running counter to Mr. Killeen saying Rome is burning.
- east central - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 9:46 pm:
OW, your points are well taken. The message is clearly that UIUC cannot maintain its position given the adversity of the Illinois budget environment. Does Illinois want to lose the excellence of UIUC? Does Illinois want to lose the economic stimulus that this excellence in science and engineering brings?
The foolishness has gone on far too long. It needs to end in the next few days.
- atsuishin - Monday, May 22, 17 @ 9:46 pm:
Illinois is not California. The weather is terrible and the pancake flat landscape is filled with cornfields. Meanwhile California is a sort of paradise, with majestic vistas and heavenly weather. People will move to CA regardless of how terrible their government is or high the taxes are. Illinois not California if taxes go up the state will bleed people.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 6:44 am:
- east central -
Yes. That’s the ball game now. It’s fine to celebrate the past and even “the today”, but failure to recognize the destruction and the peril of the all state universities, while thinking things are “fine”, that is the pitfall.
It’s all good. You do understand the gravity of this, while others may not want to admit the realities.
- Anon221 - Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 7:42 am:
east central- “Does Illinois want to lose the excellence of UIUC? Does Illinois want to lose the economic stimulus that this excellence in science and engineering brings?”
I would replace Illinois with “Illinois Republican House Representatives and State Senators” who represent those universities in the districts they were elected to serve. They are the ones who will be casting the crucial votes needed in the next few days. And pleas for “we need more time” is just a translation of “I don’t want to lose my Rauner Bucks”.